Paranormal film to uncover the truth at church is released

The ghostly goings-on at one of the Bedfordshire’s reportedly most haunted sites have been caught on camera for a film due to be released this month.

Paranormal Diaries, which is 90 per cent truth and ten per cent fiction, was filmed at St Mary’s Church in 2010 by a group of actors, paranormal enthusiasts and witnesses.

And it is being released on DVD on October 14 - just in time for Halloween.

The movie was written and directed by Kevin Gates, who runs his own production company Off World Films and Bleeding Edge Films Ltd with fellow film-maker Michael Bartlett.

Kevin said: “Growing up in Bedford I had always known about the St Mary’s Church site, and as a young kid went over there a couple of times, which I think is a right of passage for all teenagers in Bedfordshire.

“So I guess I wanted to delve into the history of the site and see if there’s any truth to the myths.”

St Mary’s Church in Clophill became dogged by black magic and haunted rumours after two boys made a gruesome discovery in 1963.

A woman’s bones had been dug up by a cult who were believed to be carrying out black magic rituals at the site at the time.

Kevin added: “We actually managed to track down one of the boys Duncan Stein who actually uncovered the incident in the 1960s, along with his friend Calvin Smith.

“He lived in Leagrave and was on a bike ride with his friend from Luton to Clophill when they made the discovery. He actually hadn’t been back there since then, he left the area because of what happened.

“They discovered the whole thing after it happened. There was a skull impaled on a metal spike and bones scattered around. There were strange symbols on the building as well that led people to believe it was sort of black magic. “

The movie that is a mix of documentary and fiction, was filmed in 2010. At the time Kevin was working on another film called Zombie Diaries one and two, so it has taken several years to get round to editing Paranormal Diaries.

Current and former Clophill residents and other witnesses were also interviewed for the film. And the Luton Paranormal Society was involved in carrying out “experiments” during filming.

The company is now working on a sequel to the film, based in an isolated wood, just outside Luton.

And Kevin is also planning on shooting another film next year called Forever Darkness, which is a horror film set in 17th century England against the backdrop of the Civil War.

Paranormal Diaries is due to be released on October. It will be seeing for just under £10 online and at Asda stores throughout the UK.